Hibs 0 Queen of the South 0: Hibees held again

David Hardie

A depleted Hibs side were forced to settle for a fourth successive Championship draw at Easter Road as they dominated for almost the entire match but were unable to find a way to sink Queen of the South.

Substitute Paul Heffernan passed up the game’s best chance with just eight minutes remaining, blazing over with the goal at his mercy to leave the home fans bitterly disappointed not to have seen their side collect all three points.

Already without the injured trio of Farid El Alagui, Jordon Forster and Dylan McGeouch along with Dominique Malonga, on international duty with Congo in the African Cup of Nations, Hibs were dealt two further blows before kick-off.

Goalkeeper Mark Oxley failed a fitness test on the back problem sustained against Cowdenbeath, presenting 19-year-old Kleton Perntreou with his first start, while Scott Robertson was another injury victim, head coach Alan Stubbs adding Alex Harris and Matthew Kennedy to his starting line-up.

Jason Cummings engineered space to test Zander Clark for the first time after just five minutes, his shot from 25 yards carrying too much power for the Queen s goalkeeper to hold but he did manage to parry it into a safe area.

Other than that neither side carried too much threat in the opening 20 minutes or so, Pertntreou no doubt grateful to have negotiated that period without any worries although he did look on a touch anxiously as Mark Kerr’s effort drifted wide of target.

But it was Cummings who was carrying the greater danger at the other end, Clark again unable to hold an angled shot from the youngster with no-one in a green shirt following it in.

And it was a similar story when Scott Allan tried his luck from range, Clark spilling his shot but enjoying time to gather the ball with none of Stubbs’ players in close proximity.

Hibs continued to have Queen of the South on the back foot as the second half got underway but, again, were unable to find the key to unlock the visiting defence with James Fowler’s side looking content to settle for a point while hoping to snatch all three with a breakaway goal.

Stubbs side, though, did have a glorious chance to break the deadlock eight minutes from time when David Gray’s run picked out Heffernan in space but the veteran hitman blazed over with the goal at his mercy.